Rev. Michael J. De Vries, the oldest of five children, was born and grew up in the Tall Corn State of Iowa. He spent most of his youth living and working on his family’s grain and livestock farm, a few miles southwest of the Dutch community of Pella.

The split in the PRC in 1953 almost destroyed the Pella congregation, but in the mid-1960s it began to revive in the providence of God, and the De Vries family returned to the PRC at that time. In his early high school years, Rev. De Vries began to consider the call to the ministry. After one year at Central College in Pella, he moved to Grand Rapids, MI, to continue college and pre-seminary studies.

What better place for a seminary student to meet his future wife than at a Sunday evening singspiration! And predictably their first date was to a Reformation Day lecture! Rev. and Dawn were united in marriage in 1975. They were blessed with four children and 18 grandchildren and counting!

Rev.’s hobbies include reading, hiking, and wildlife photography. He has quite a collection of books on North American wildlife (especially bears) that he has scavenged from thrift stores and used book stores. He also enjoys making walking sticks from fallen branches that he picks up while hiking. The De Vrieses love traveling or going on day excursions together when possible.

The De Vrieses have been blessed in all of the congregations where Rev. has served. It has always been hard for them to leave so many dear faces behind. But God has called them to several smaller congregations where it did not take long to get to know one another and feel at home. This includes the congregation here at Kalamazoo PRC! All of you are precious to them — whether young or old.

Wife: Dawn
Ordained: October 1978
Pastorates:
1978: Southwest PRC, Grandville, MI
1985: First PRC, Edgerton, MN
1995: First PRC, Edmonton, AB
2004: Wingham PRC, Wingham, ON
2010: Kalamazoo PRC, Kalamazoo, MI

Read some of Rev. De Vries’s articles here.